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5 WAYS WE REBEL AND SIN AGAINST THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS

5 WAYS WE REBEL AND SIN AGAINST THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS

By Vince Antonucci

Have you ever met someone who takes an opposing view regardless of anything you say? Everything turns into a debate. It can almost seem like they are looking for things to refute.

Sometimes I wonder if that’s how we are with sin. It seems like regardless of who God is, we find a way to oppose Him. It’s almost as if we are determined to create ways for us to sin against the loving qualities we know in God.

HOW WE SIN AGAINST GOD

We Worship Created Things

God is the Creator. He is the creator of the world and of every person in it. As such, He deserves our worship. In fact, our creator God demands our worship. So, what do we do?

Rather than worshipping the Creator, we worship the things He created. The Bible says,

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (Romans 1:20-25).

Those verses speak of people worshipping images of reptiles, so we may think we’re off the hook. After all, I can’t remember the last time I bowed or sang praise to my wooden alligator. But we’re not off the hook.

These verses include all of us. We all feel the allure to worship created things – whether it’s a job promotion, new car, a bigger house, the body on the cover of the magazine, the new kitchen, the nice shoes, this list could be endless.

We should worship God the Creator but instead we worship the things He created.

We Assume Life Has No Value and Lacks Purpose

Every life has value and innate worth because it derives from God who created all human life in HIS own image. Yet we’re quick to assume that the lives of the marginalized lack value and purpose. All lives have significance and meaning whether it is life that is waiting to be born or one that is nearing death.

We know God has ordained all our days but we begin to doubt our purpose once life becomes challenging. We begin to question the meaning of life and assume that it is completely pointless. Our thoughts begin to snowball and we find ourselves second-guessing whether God was ever involved in the first place. This is why people don’t believe in God, or doubt their beliefs in him.

We know there is significant value to life as a result of knowing our Creator. But we don’t always value life the way we should. We should be stewards of the life God has given us yet we hear the number of babies aborted and stories of people killed or forced out of their homes. We don’t like hearing about it, but we don’t do anything about it.

We Determine There Are No Absolutes

If there is a God and he created everything, there are absolute moral rights and wrongs that apply equally to everyone. If we’re God’s creation, and he has spoken to us, we need to listen to and obey what he’s said.

Yet our world has rebelled against God, not only sinning directly against his laws, but even against the idea that there are moral absolutes. The great Russian author Dostoevski wrote that “if there is no God, then everything is justifiable.” Here are few more examples of the mindset in our culture today.

“It’s right if it’s right for you.”

“That may be wrong for me, but it doesn’t mean it’s wrong for you.”

“To each his own.”

There absolutely IS a God, and he has given moral right and wrongs for us to live by, but we reject them and then essentially reject him.

We Worry Over Every Detail In Our Life

God is a Creator God who is sovereign over all his universe and all his people. That means life is not random. What happens to us is not a surprise to God and does not escape his attention.

As a sovereign Creator God he has plans for our lives (see Jeremiah 29:11) and can make something good out of something bad during those dark moments in life (see Romans 8:28).

That is great news! We should find it liberating and comforting. But what do we do? We worry. We spend so much time in anguish over what happened, and what might happen, and what we should do if what might happen actually happens.

It’s almost as if we act like atheists. We approach life the way someone who doesn’t believe in a sovereign Creator God would approach life.

God’s Response To Our Sin

See what I mean? It’s almost like we’ve created ways to sin against all the characteristics and gifts of our Creator God. In Romans 1 it says we have ‘suppressed the truth by our wickedness’ (verse 18). That’s not to say that we won’t ever sin or have moments of doubt, but when we tightly grip the reins of life, we essentially refuse to give up control and let God be the author and creator of life.

Ignoring God’s sovereignty and control over our circumstances points towards rebellion and unbelief. He is a good and loving God, but he is also a just and righteous God. Ultimately, He had to take drastic measures in order to make his creation right.

Next time, as we continue to think about God the Creator, we’ll think about his creative way to redeem and restore his creation. Get involved in the community of God and connect with others through small group bible studies or personal bible studies. They can help you along your journey with God and in turn you can help someone else on their’s.

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Vince Antonucci

Vince is the teaching pastor at Verve Church in Las Vegas, Nevada. Vince became a Christian out of a completely non-Christian background, which has led him to start two churches for people who don't like church. Vince is the author of several books, including God for the Rest of Us.